Hungarian MEP: The European Commission doesn’t care about balanced debate
Balázs Hidvéghi, MEP of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz, spoke up for Poland in a debate in the European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) on Thursday.
The MEP criticised the committee for launching a debate on Poland’s judiciary, inviting the European Commission to participate while not inviting Poland. Hidvéghi said the procedure “runs against fundamental rules of debate”.
The EC “doesn’t care about a balanced debate; it has never cared,” Hidvéghi said, adding that “the left wing here only listens to their own narrative…”
“It is outrageous that leftist politicians gather weekly and unanimously condemn Poland without hearing the Polish government’s position,” he said on Facebook.
Hidvéghi also suggested that the timing of the debate was in connection with Poland’s upcoming elections. “The commission will again take its share in manipulating public sentiment,” he said.
Official calls for ‘demographic turnaround’ to ensure Europe’s competitiveness
Europe’s competitiveness cannot be maintained “without a turnaround in demographic trends”, the political director of the Prime Minister’s Office said in Brussels on Thursday.
Speaking on the sidelines of a European Union summit, Balázs Orbán told Hungarian journalists: “We need European children, we need a new European generation.” A new generation may serve as a basis for economic growth in the bloc rather than immigration, he said, adding that immigration “creates far more problems than it solves”. The government is working to have this principle included in the closing statement of the summit, he said.
Concerning a proposal under which the European Union would finance the purchase of border control equipment, Orbán said such a move would not amount to a breakthrough. Instead, he suggested, Hungary should “receive material and legal assistance to complete a border seal in the south to stave off several hundred thousand illegal migrants each year”.
The EU has not contributed to the construction or operation of Hungary’s border fence, having launched procedures against Hungary instead, the official said. “While this is the case, Hungary and several other states will keep the European Commission under pressure,” he said.
Answering a question concerning an international arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court against Russian President Vladimir Putin, the official said the Hungarian government acknowledged the ruling.
Read alsoHungary wouldn’t arrest Putin if the Russian President visited Budapest
Source: MTI